Hotline
by Gabiroba
Summary: Grillows. Episode tag for season 7 ep, Redrum. A phone call between Catherine and Gil at the end of the episode. -EDITED-


**Hotline**

**Author's Note**: I watched Redrum, and though I really did like the episode, I could not stand how they pictured Catherine in it, especially Sara's cheeky little grin near the end, so I sat down and wrote this. I hope you all enjoy.

A telephone rang in the university office twice before it was answered.

"Hello," greeted the unfortunate one to whom it belonged.

On the other end of the line a woman could be heard sniffling before she spoke, "I messed up Gil."

She didn't have to say her name; he would have recognized that voice anywhere, anytime.

"What happened, Catherine?"

There was no need to mention the grief apparent in her voice, and Gil did not like the sound of it one bit. The Catherine he knew would never let her emotions grip at her so strongly.

"Keppler had us using reverse forensics to catch a killer. I didn't like it , but the under-sheriff gave us strict orders and we had to comply. The whole thing was a gigantic catch. I wasn't allowed to tell the guys anything, but we don't call them the best for nothing, do we? They figured it out quickly enough, no thanks to me, and now…now they don't trust me anymore, Gil. Not that I can blame 'em, I wouldn't trust myself either."

She took a deep breath and sighed before continuing. "What kind of a supervisor am I? I didn't trust my own team, people I've worked with for years, that I would give my life for. How could I expect to still have their respect?"

She couldn't stop the tears from flowing out. After the events of the past couple of days she could not handle it anymore and finally burst.

Gil, on the other hand, did not know what to think, much less say. He knew Catherine long and well enough to know that she did what she did because she really did not see any other way. He'd watched the news and had seen when they arrested the "rat" for that killing, but was slightly confused when they later arrested Sonny for the same murder. He knew his team would have been the one to take the call and did not know how they had made such a mistake. Now with Catherine's explanation of the events he had a better understanding of what had happened, and he was coming to the conclusion that he did not want this Keppler person on his team if he was going to lead investigations away from the facts and into suppositions and mind games.

"Catherine, tell me something. Why did you go through with it in the first place? Did you want to deceive the team every step of the way?" He knew the answer but also knew that the only way to make her see it was to go about it in this manner.

"Of course not, Gil! If there is one thing you have taught me is that the evidence speaks for itself, and to never waver from the facts. And lying to our people is not something that makes me sleep easily at night. Every time I had to tell one of them to back off it hurt and made me want to either scream or tell them everything. I knew they were capable of solving this case the moment it fell in our laps. I never wanted to take part in any of the deceptions."

"I know that, Cath, I just want you to see that even though your actions might not have been the best ones, your intentions were good."

She scoffed at his response. Leave it to Gil to say something like that.

"What were their reactions when they found out what you were doing?"

"Exactly what you would expect, they felt: betrayed, hurt, mad; you name it and they felt it. Sara even looked a little smug, as if none of this would have happened if you were here and I hadn't been left in charge. Actually, I am only glad that they hate Keppler even more than me."

"About this Keppler fellow, what is he doing on my team anyway? I'm on sabbatical, I didn't leave the lab, and don't plan to either."

Catherine laughed at the protective tone to his voice, "He was hired for day-shift, but since we're one short they decided to throw him to us until you come back. Don't worry, you still have your job and I, personally, cannot wait until you come back."

"Oh, I am touched. I had no idea I would be so missed. It doesn't have anything to do with the fact that there are case reviews coming up now, does it?"

Catherine's eyes narrowed as she tried to glare at him through the telephone, and even though he couldn't see her, he knew exactly how she looked at that moment.

"Gilbert Grissom, if you think for one moment that I will be doing all of those reviews, you have another thing coming. I will do just enough for the higher ups not to get on my case, but you will definitely have some work to do when you get back. This will not turn into another Jackpot incident. You remember…when you conveniently had a case out in the boondocks and left me with a month's worth of your paperwork?

She paused and let her words take effect. "I mean, what kind of friend would I be if I took away from you the chance to get caught up on all the cases over here?"

He shook his head. "What was I thinking?" Deciding now was the percent time to change the topic again, he asked, "Besides this fiasco, how has everything else been? Have you had any trouble in other areas?"

"No, it has been pretty smooth sailing. Well, as smooth as it gets in Vegas. We did solve a string of Jane Doe murders dating back to '75. Of course the killer refused to tell us the names of any of the victims, we only managed to name the one we found, but at least he has been put away and we don't have to worry about finding any more of his victims."

"That's good. Were there any more miniature murders?"

"No. I'm beginning to think the guy made them only for you."

His eyebrow raised, "Funny Catherine. You should have been a comedian."

They continued with their bantering, something both had missed since he had left, for a few more hours. He told her of what he had done in California and she caught him up on everything revolving the team and Lindsay.

At the end of their talk they came to the conclusion that there was only one way either would survive the weeks he had left away from home. They agreed to keep phoning each other. It would not only make the weeks go by faster, but keep the loneliness of having their best friend so far seem a bit less pronounces.


End file.
